The studio sits at 21212 Catawba Avenue, inside the renovated Puckett and Goodrum houses. The Cain Center for the Arts is at 21348, and Cornelius Town Hall is at 21445. From The Peninsula, all three are a short drive into downtown, and between them they hold almost every holiday event Cornelius has scheduled for November and December 2026.
The Puckett Pottery House, the Cain Center's new ceramics studio, held its ribbon cutting on May 6, 2026, and its first holiday season changes the calendar. The town tree lighting is still Saturday, November 28. The first holiday event on this stretch of Catawba Avenue is now three weeks earlier, and it involves wet clay.
Three Addresses, One Season
Here is how the season divides across the three addresses, in the order you would pass them heading into downtown.
| Address | Venue | What it holds this season |
|---|---|---|
| 21212 Catawba Ave | Puckett Pottery House | Holiday luminary and ornament workshops, Friday wheel nights, open studio |
| 21348 Catawba Ave | Cain Center for the Arts | November concerts and comedy, White Christmas, holiday movie screenings |
| 21445 Catawba Ave | Town Hall / Downtown Cornelius | Veterans Day Program, Light Up Cornelius |
The Pottery House adds hands-on holiday sessions where you make the decorations yourself, and it schedules them in November, before the lights go on.
The First Holiday Event Is November 7
According to Cornelius Today, the Pottery House project renovated two historic houses on Catawba Avenue. It added space for ceramics teaching and workshops plus an outdoor event courtyard, and it gave the Cain Center's ceramics program a permanent home. The holiday schedule posted on the Cain Center's workshops page runs in this order:
- Saturday, November 7. Christmas Tree Luminaries, offered as a Hand Build session and a Wheel session, each at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
- Saturdays, November 14 and 21. Holiday Ornament Workshop at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The 10:30 a.m. session on November 14 is open to ages 7 and up and costs $73.68 including fees and taxes. Children under 16 need an adult with them, and that adult needs a ticket too.
- Fridays, November 6, 13, and 20, and December 4 and 11. Beginner Pottery Wheel Workshop at 6 p.m. The November 6 session runs 6 to 8 p.m., is for ages 16 and up, and costs $83.73 all-in.
The ornament workshop is the one built for families. The age floor is 7, against 16 for nearly everything else in the building. That makes it the only ceramics session on the holiday schedule where a parent and a grade-schooler can sit at the same table.
The workshops matter because half of the studio's regular classes are already full. Eight multiweek fall class runs were listed as of late October, all for ages 16 and up, and four of them showed as sold out: All Levels Wheel on Monday nights, the 10 a.m. Tuesday Beginner Wheel Throwing, Intermediate Wheel Throwing on Tuesday nights, and Intro to Wheel Throwing on Wednesday nights. Those runs began October 26 through 28 and end December 7 through 9. Anyone who decides in November to try the wheel will find the single-session workshops are the way in.
Experienced potters have one more option. Open Studio for wheel throwing costs $40 a session, is aimed at intermediate and experienced artists ages 16 and up, and requires buying clay separately. Most November weekdays have two blocks, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m., and the listings continue into the first week of December.
November Fills In Around the Workshops
The Cain Center's November lineup sits right alongside the studio schedule, and several dates pair up neatly.
- November 4 and 5: OldTimers: The Musical
- November 6: ABACAB: The Music of Genesis, Phil Collins, & Peter Gabriel, the same evening as a Friday wheel workshop
- November 7: Comedian Tom Cotter, the evening after the luminary sessions that morning
- November 13: MERAKI FIVE
- November 14: Lion King Jr., the same day as the first ornament workshop
- November 19: Jamie Lissow, a benefit for Brad Keselowski's Checkered Flag Foundation
The town's own November event is at Town Hall. The Cornelius Veterans Day Program runs Wednesday, November 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 21445 Catawba Avenue. It is free, and retired Army veteran Darrell Bonaparte is the keynote speaker. It is the one daytime weekday gathering on this stretch all month, and it uses the same address the town decorates two and a half weeks later.
November 28 Is the Hinge
Light Up Cornelius is the 15th annual edition this year. It runs Saturday, November 28, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Downtown Cornelius, 21445 Catawba Avenue, and it is free. The Visit Lake Norman event listing describes it this way:
"Each year, thousands of people join us for our annual tree lighting in Downtown Cornelius. Attendees can enjoy community group performances, children's activities, a sledding hill, trackless train rides, a model train display, food and drink, s'mores, and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus!"
On logistics, the 2026 parking plan and any street closures have not been posted. Last year, Cornelius Today reported that Catawba Avenue was closed from 1 to 8:30 p.m. on the day of the 2025 event. That was last year's arrangement and may not match this year's, but it shows how much of the corridor the event can take up. Before November 28, check the town's Light Up Cornelius page for the 2026 details.
A Peninsula household that made luminaries on November 7 and ornaments on November 14 or 21 has finished pieces by the time the town tree is lit. The studio and the tree lighting are a short walk apart on the same street.
December Moves Indoors, With One Crowded Saturday
After the tree lighting, most of the season moves into the Cain Center's theater. White Christmas plays eight times over two weekends: Thursday through Sunday, December 3 to 6, and again December 10 to 13. Evening shows start at 7:30 p.m. with doors at 6:30, and Sunday matinees start at 3 p.m.
The second half of the month is mostly holiday movies, with a few live shows in between:
| Date | At the Cain Center | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, Dec 16 | Movies Series: Elf | 12:40, 3:30, 6 p.m. |
| Thu, Dec 17 | Ugly Seasonal Sweater Soiree | 7 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec 18 | Jen Kober | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Meet Loaf | 7:30 p.m. |
| Mon, Dec 21 | Movies Series: Polar Express | 12:40, 3:20, 6 p.m. |
| Tue, Dec 22 | Movies Series: How The Grinch Stole Christmas | 12:45, 3:30, 6:15 p.m. |
December 17 has two events. Cornelius's Flashlight Candy Cane Dash runs that Thursday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Legion Park. Children search the trails for candy canes and visit Santa, and registration is required. The Sweater Soiree at the Cain Center starts at 7, just as the Dash ends.
Saturday, December 5, is the busiest day of the season. The 44th Annual North Mecklenburg Holiday Parade steps off at 1 p.m., running from Davidson into Cornelius. That evening, White Christmas starts at 7:30 at the Cain Center. The same night is also the last of three nights of Christmas in Davidson. According to News of Davidson, the festival runs December 3 through 5 from 6 to 9 p.m., with the tree lighting on the Davidson Town Green on the opening night. One Saturday includes a parade, a Broadway-style musical, and a neighboring town's festival.
The pottery wheel keeps going into December too. Beginner Pottery Wheel Workshops are set for Friday, December 4, and Friday, December 11, both at 6 p.m. The December 4 workshop is the night before the parade and the night after White Christmas opens.
Schedules change, and ticketed sessions sell out, as four of the fall class runs already have. Confirm dates and availability on the Cain Center's event listings and the Town of Cornelius parks and recreation pages before you plan an evening around them.
Many of our neighbors' holiday traditions run through downtown Cornelius, and the Preston Realty Group team enjoys hearing which ones mean the most to you. If you're thinking about how life in The Peninsula fits your next chapter, whether that means staying close to these Catawba Avenue traditions or planning a move, Beth is glad to talk it through over coffee. Let's Connect.
